Tuesday, February 19, 2013

‘A new-born puppy knows no fear of a tiger’: North Korea threatens South with ‘final destruction’

AP Photo/Ahn Young-joonSouth
Korean protesters stage a rally demanding a peaceful resolution to the
North Korean nuclear crisis near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea,
Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. The European Union imposed trade and economic
sanctions on North Korea while condemning "in the strongest terms" the
nation's latest nuclear test. The Korean writing reads "Comparison of
North Korea's nuclear test."

CLICK TO ENLARGE

North Korea is believed to have more than 800 ballistic missiles. What does it plan to do with them?

GENEVA — North Korea threatened South Korea with “final destruction”
during a debate at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament on
Tuesday, saying it could take further steps after a nuclear test last
week.

“As the saying goes, a new-born puppy knows no fear of a tiger. South
Korea’s erratic behaviour would only herald its final destruction,”
North Korean diplomat Jon Yong Ryong told the meeting.
Jon’s comments drew quick criticism from other nations, including
South Korea, France, Germany and Britain, whose ambassador Joanne
Adamson said such language was “completely inappropriate” and the
discussion with North Korea was heading in the wrong direction.

“It cannot be allowed that we have expressions which refer to the possible destruction of UN member states,” she said.

Spanish Ambassador Javier Gil Catalina said the comment left him stupefied and appeared to be a breach of international law.

“In the 30 years of my career I’ve never heard anything like it and
it seems to me that we are not speaking about something that is even
admissible, we are speaking about a threat of the use of force that is
prohibited by Article 2.4 of the United Nations charter,” Catalina said.

CLICK TO ENLARGEGraphic: The World’s Nuclear Missiles

Since the North tested a nuclear bomb last week in defiance of UN
resolutions, its southern neighbour has warned it could strike the
isolated state if it believed an attack was imminent.

Pyongyang said the aim of the test was to bolster its defences given
the hostility of the United States, which has led a push to impose
sanctions on North Korea.

“Our current nuclear test is the primary countermeasure taken by the
DPRK in which it exercised its maximum self-restraint,” said the North
Korean diplomat Jon.

“If the U.S. takes a hostile approach toward the DPRK to the last,
rendering the situation complicated, it [North Korea] will be left with
no option but to take the second and third stronger steps in
succession,” he said, without indicating what that might entail.

North Korea has already told key ally China that it is prepared to
stage one or two more tests this year to force the United States into
diplomatic talks, a source with direct knowledge of the message told
Reuters last week.

U.S. Ambassador Laura Kennedy said she found North Korea’s threat on
Tuesday profoundly disturbing and later tweeted that it was “offensive.”

Poland’s representative suggested North Korea’s participation in the UN forum should be limited.
Impoverished and malnourished North Korea is one of the most heavily sanctioned states in the world.

It is still technically at war with South Korea after a 1950-53 civil war ended in a mere truce.
Washington and its allies are believed to be pushing to tighten the
noose around North Korea’s financial transactions in a bid to starve its
leadership of funding.

Jon said last week’s test was an act of self-defence against nuclear
blackmail by the United States, which wanted to block North Korea’s
economic development and its fundamental rights.

AFP PHOTO / KCNA via KNSA
photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency of a
national meeting for celebrating the 71st birth anniversary of late
leader Kim Jong-Il at Pyongyang Indoor Stadium.

“It is the disposition and firm will of the army and people of the
DPRK to counter high-handed policy with tough-fist policy and to react
to pressure and sanctions with an all-out counter-action,” he said.
Jon said the United States had conducted most of the nuclear tests
and satellite launches in history, and he described its pursuit of UN
Security Council resolutions against North Korea as “a breach of
international law and the height of double standards.”

Neither Russia nor China, which are veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, spoke at Tuesday’s meeting in Geneva.

Before its nuclear test, North Korea was already facing growing diplomatic pressure at the United Nations.

The UN Human Rights Council is widely expected to order an inquiry
next month into its leaders’ responsibilities for crimes against
humanity